US PRESIDENT Barack Obama will meet President Rodrigo Duterte next week, the White House said, despite concerns over a war on crime that has claimed more than 2,000 lives.
The White House said Obama would meet the firebrand leader on the sidelines of a summit in Laos, which begins on Sept. 6, with the US president likely to voice disquiet over the bloodshed and Duterte’s abusive remarks.
“We absolutely expect that the president will raise concerns about some of the recent statements from the President of the Philippines,” Obama aide Ben Rhodes told reporters in Washington on Monday.
“We regularly meet with the leaders of our treaty allies where we have differences, whether it relates to human rights practices or derogatory comments. We take the opportunity of those meetings to raise those issues directly.”
Malacañang however, brushed off any talk of human rights violations.
“Well basically, they’ll establish first acquaintances then establish a foreign relationship… but we’re not referring to [any issue on extrajudicial killings,]” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters in a Palace press briefing.
Duterte will embark on a one-week Asean tour from Sept. 4 to 9, with the highlight being his attendance to the Association of South East Asian Nations in Laos.
The President will also take side trips to visit Brunei and Indonesia to talk to the Filipino communities there.
Since taking office two months ago, Duterte has begun making good on an election pledge to kill tens of thousands of suspected criminals, prompting criticism from rights groups who accuse him of inciting vigilante murders.
He has also lashed out at the United Nations and described the US ambassador to Manila as a “son of a whore.”
However, Duterte’s war on crime has seen unknown assailants kill more than half the victims, according to police statistics, raising fears that security forces and hired assassins are shooting dead anyone suspected of being involved in drugs.
Police have reported killing 756 people they have branded drug suspects, although they have insisted they are only acting in self-defense.
The US State Department last week said it was “deeply concerned” about reports of extrajudicial killings.
Obama had earlier spoke by telephone to then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte shortly after he won the Presidency at the May 9 polls, hailing the country’s “vibrant democracy” and emphasizing the importance of “protecting human rights.”
In his call to Duterte, Obama “highlighted the enduring values that underpin our thriving alliance with the Philippines… including our shared commitments to democracy, human rights, rule of law, and inclusive economic growth,” the White House said in its statement.
“The two leaders affirmed their interest in seeing the relationship continue to grow on the basis of these shared principles,” the statement read.
Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser in an interview said that while the United States did not refer directly to allegations of human rights abuses against Duterte, some “controversy” and “statements … drew attention in the past.”
“But look, this is a new government and we’ll want to hear from them directly what their priorities are,” he said when asked about the May 9 presidential election in the Philippines.
Rhodes said Washington hoped “to build on progress made with the last administration” in the country.
“For us the priorities will remain the security and the prosperity of the Philippines; we’ll want to see continued efforts in the Philippines to respect the rule of law and combat corruption, just as we support those kinds of efforts across Asia and around the world,” Rhodes added.
Duterte earlier refused to apologize after he called US ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg as an “annoying homosexual” and a “son of a whore.”
The Philippines, a former US colony, was regarded as one of the United States’ most loyal allies in Asia until Duterte took office.
The two nations are bound by a mutual defense pact.
